Marketing a major hurdle for minor leagues

The Mississippi Braves are always trying to lure fans to ballpark

The Mississippi Braves like any minor league team try to find creative ways to drive fans to the ballpark

Marketing a major hurdle for minor leagues

The Mississippi Braves are always trying to lure fans to ballpark

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Updated: 11:25 PM CDT May 8, 2012

PEARL, Miss. —

"I tell people all the time, 'as long as it's not illegal or immoral, we'll probably give it a shot,'" admits Mississippi Braves general manager Steve DeSalvo.

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Those are the measures you sometimes have to take when running a minor league baseball team. A 140-game season means 70 home games, and 70 home games means 70 days you have to put fans in the stands. Fans may see the diamond and a ballgame, but to the folks in the front office, it's a spectacle.

"The hard core baseball people wouldn't want to hear me say this, but we're not really a baseball team--we're not promoting baseball. We're promoting entertainment," said DeSalvo, who has been with the Atlanta Braves AA organization for 25 years.

Entertainment perks span from bobble head giveaways to whacky contests on the field in between innings. But some ideas can go awry. Take for instance the 1979 Disco Demolition night at Chicago's Comiskey Park where disco albums were destroyed and a riot ensued. Steve DeSalvo and other minor league executives have seen it all.

"I've tried day time fireworks; didn't work," a smiling DeSalvo said. "I was also sold on a laser light show one time which ended up being a guy with some laser on the field with one color, green. And it was kind of like he was Etch-A-Sketching in the sky and that didn't go over real well," he added.

Promotions also vary by the team's demographic. What works in Peoria, Ill., won't necessarily work everywhere, but the M-Braves do have an ace in the hole, Thursdays.

"People might not like me saying this or like hearing this, but it [Thursday] has become very popular," said DeSalvo.

Thursday of course is Thirsty Thursday with $1 draft beers.

However, DeSalvo is quick to point out, "The thing we try not to do is push too much in people's face that it's about beer, because we don't want it to be a 'beer fest' out here. We try to keep it as much family entertainment as we can."

Try and try hard they will, but even if their promotions fall flat, your family will be entertained at the park, because, hey, there's still a game to watch.